Six women battled their way up through WWE HQ at Money in the Bank, but it was Asuka who made it up the ladder first.
Although there were plenty of Superstars competing in this year's Money in the Bank ladder matches that have experience in the field, and even some who have won the match before, that didn't really count for anything. That's because Sunday night's ladder matches were unlike any that have come before in the history of MITB.
Not only did the two sets of Superstars have to climb the ladder to get the briefcase, they first had to make their way all the way up through WWE HQ. Although the men's and women's matches took place simultaneously, they did not start in the exact same place. The women kicked things off in the lobby, and Asuka made sure the match started with a bang.
As her five competitors looked around to see if The Empress was even there, Asuka revealed herself to be on the balcony above. She then leaped from said balcony, knocking everyone else down in the process. Asuka then scrambled to ger feet and escaped in an elevator before any of the other Superstars competing in the match had time to recover.
It wasn't as simple as taking that elevator all the way to the roof and unhooking the briefcase for Asuka, though. In fact, there was a point where she stopped to ask a cleaner for directions who either didn't know the way to the roof or couldn't understand what she was saying. The chasing pack caught up to the former Women's Champion at that point and most of them made it to the roof at the same time.
At that point, it became like a regular MITB match, just a lot higher up. That was until some of the men showed up too. Asuka was atop the ladder when Baron Corbin joined her and attempted to stop her unhooking the women's briefcase, for some reason. Asuka retaliated by booting The King in the face, effectively costing him the men's match. That freed her up to lay claim to the women's contract, and her reign as Miss MITB will begin with a confrontation with Becky Lynch on Raw tomorrow night.